The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Food inflation at four-month low Slips to 16.22 per cent New Delhi, March 25 Food inflation fell to its lowest in four months at 16.22 per cent for the week ended March 13, as the pace of price rise for potatoes slowed and other vegetables such as onions became cheaper. The 0.08 percentage points fall in food prices from the previous week, however, is unlikely to prevent the overall inflation from vaulting to double digits in March from 9.89 per cent in February as high food and fuel prices have started spilling over to non-food items. During the week, petrol prices rose 16.82 per cent, while diesel turned costlier by 14.99 per cent year-on-year, as government restored customs on crude and raised excise duty on petrol and diesel. "Food inflation is likely to soften in the coming months, but fuel and manufacturing inflation could pick up. I expect overall inflation to be around 11 per cent in March," HDFC Bank economist Jyotinder Kaur said. The government expects food inflation to fall after the arrival of the Rabi crop (winter) in the markets next month. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee too in Chandigarh yesterday has said that food inflation may spread to non-food items over a period, although food prices have started coming down. With prices set to rise, RBI is likely to make the cost of borrowings higher and take measures to draw more money out of the system in its April 20 policy. "To tame inflation, RBI could hike repo, reverse repo and CRR by 25 basis points each in April policy," Kaur said. During the week, potato prices rose by just 5.62 per cent on yearly basis, while onion prices declined 6.64 per cent. As there is an over supply of potatoes in some markets like West Bengal, prices are likely to fall further in the days ahead, analysts said. Prices of fruits showed a rise of 11.06 per cent year-on-year, that of rice 7.42 per cent, pulses 31.68 per cent and milk 15.31 per cent. RBI raised key short-term lending and borrowing (repo and reverse repo) rates by 25 basis points to five per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively, to check inflation from spreading to non-food items. Yesterday in Mumbai, RBI Governor D Subbarao had said the apex bank would continue its exit from monetary stimulus policy to check high inflation and ensure sustainable growth. On weekly basis, moong and pork turned costlier by five per cent each, urad by four per cent, coffee by two per cent and fruits and vegetables by one per cent each. However, masur prices declined four per cent while eggs, bajra, condiments and spices and maize by one per cent each. Food inflation had last slipped to below 16 per cent in the week ending November 15, 2009, when it had dropped to 15.58 per cent, according to the provisional figures. — PTI
	Bharti to buy Zain’s African assets for $10.7 billion Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 25 Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel is set to become the world’s seventh largest operator in the telecom sector with an approval from Kuwait's Zain to buy its African assets, other than those in Morocco and Sudan, for $10.7 billion. The Kuwaiti company said: "The company confirms that the board of directors of Zain met in Kuwait on Wednesday to review the latest developments and negotiations related to this matter". "The board is pleased to report that due diligence process has been completed and that the parties are finalising definitive agreements which are expected to be signed in the coming days." Today was the last day for the exclusive talks between the two companies which would give Bharti a footprint in Africa, which remains one of the untapped markets around the world. Based on regulatory approvals, the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti will pay $9 billion to acquire Zain's assets spread across 15 African countries. It will also adopt $1.7 billion of Zain's debt. Bharti has already tied up $8.3 billion to fund the acquisition. Bharti would have three months to get the required regulatory approvals. Bharti Airtel’s shares gained nearly 2.5 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. This was Bharti's third attempt to enter the African market after failing to enter into a merger pact with South Africa's MTN on two occasions, the second being late last year. Africa accounts for a little over 60 per cent of Zain's 71.8 million customers. Airtel is among Asia's leading telecom service providers with operations now in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It has the largest market share of 23.33 per cent in India's mobile telephony segment with 121.71 million subscribers. Bharti Airtel, which has been on the lookout for an overseas acquisition for over two years now, said last month that it would also acquire a 70 per cent controlling stake in Bangladesh-based Warid Telecom to expand its global footprint.
	Essar’s buyout in Indonesia New Delhi, March 25 Ruias-led Essar group today announced signing of a deal to buy Aries's coal mines in Indonesia for an estimated up to $200 million to partly meet the raw material needs of its power business. "The Essar group announces that that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Aries coal mines in Indonesia," an Essar statement said. The company expects to close the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, by April 2010. Sources said the deal is estimated to be valued at around $175-200 million. The Aries coal mines is estimated to have mineable reserves of 64 million tonnes of thermal coal. This is a second move by the group in a month towards securing raw material for its businesses. Essar group on March 6 announced buying US-based Trinity Coal for $600 million.— PTI
	Corporate governance norms must for CPSEs New Delhi, March 25 The government today asked all 246 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to mandatorily follow corporate governance norms and business ethics, a step to ensure more transparency in their functioning. The decision to make these norms binding on the CPSEs, both listed in the stock market and unlisted, was taken by the Union Cabinet. "The guidelines on corporate governance have now been made mandatory and are applicable to all CPSEs," the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said after the Cabinet meeting. Norms, introduced in June 2007, were voluntary in nature for a period of one year on trial basis. However, "in the light of the recent events in the corporate world, the continued need for adoption of good corporate governance principles have been reinforced," the DPE said. The role of directors and auditors had come in for scrutiny after the unravelling of the multi-crore Satyam fraud in 2009. The government felt that while the principles of corporate governance (CG) apply equally to both public and private sectors, "there was a c nd role of audit committees, functioning of the subsidiary companies, disclosures, code of conduct and ethics, risk management and reporting. The guidelines have been improved in the wake of the experiences gained during the experimental phase of one year. The fresh norms include additional provisions relating to monitoring of the compliance of guidelines by CPSEs and formation of a remuneration committee. — PTI
	Dubai World gets $9.5-bn aid Dubai, March 25 The Dubai government has announced it would extend as much as $9.5 billion to crisis-hit Dubai World, to help the conglomerate restructure its massive debt. The emirate-owned Dubai World is crippled by debt running into billions of dollars, and the group is currently looking to restructure nearly $22 billion of the total liabilities. As part of its efforts to shore up the fortunes of Dubai World, the government today said it would infuse $9.5 billion into the entity. "The Government of Dubai... will support these proposals with significant financial resources, including a commitment to fund up to $9.5 billion in new funding over the business plan period," Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee chairman HH Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed Al Maktoum said. These funds would be channeled through the Dubai Financial Support Fund (DFSF) to Dubai World and its arms. In a separate statement, Nakheel, which is part of Dubai World, said the government has committed to provide $8 billion of "new money" to the unit. — PTI
	Punjab, Haryana farmers can invest in Africa Ashok Tuteja Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 25 Agriculturists and agro-industrialists from Punjab and Haryana will no longer be able to complain that they are hardly aware about the investment opportunities available to them in the agriculture sector in the huge African market. For giving them firsthand information on opportunities for cooperation in Africa, a conference on “India-Africa Partnership in Agriculture” is being organised by the ASSOCHAM at Patiala on Saturday. The initiative for the day-long conference is believed to have been taken by Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur who has also roped in her colleague in the ministry, Shashi Tharoor, to address the event. The conference will be addressed by the ambassadors/high commissioners of Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, among others. Official sources pointed out that there was widespread recognition of the skills of Indian farmers, particularly from Punjab and Haryana, in African countries. It was time for agriculturists from the state to realise the significance of vast opportunities for them in the continent, which has been ignored for decades. “The conference is being organised to bring agriculturists from Punjab and Haryana in contact with the African authorities for initiating the process of a regular dialogue and sustained interaction for cooperation,’’ they added. The sources noted that Indian farmers and agriculturists in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring states have been showing a great deal of enthusiasm to share their skills if land was made available to them in other countries. They have already worked tirelessly to make fields greener in countries like Ukraine, Argentina and Burkina Faso. There has been a substantial migration of agro-farmers to Malaysia and Australia. Punjabis, who migrated to the US, Canada and New Zealand for agriculture in 1970s have emerged as big farmers with many well-known faces worldwide. In Argentina, Simmer Pal Singh is called ‘Peanut Prince’ and has more than 17,000 hectares of land under ownership. The sources said commercial engagement between India and Africa has been increasing at a brisk pace in recent years. Bilateral trade has gone up from 5.2 billion dollars in 2002-03 to 38.7 billion dollars in 2008-09, reflecting a seven-fold increase over the last six years. The conference may spur agriculturists in Punjab and Haryana to consider the option of tie-ups with African identities, they hoped.
	Flipkart plans major expansion Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 25 The largest online bookseller, Flipkart Online Services, is going in for a major expansion this year. The company will be setting up more warehouses, expanding its product portfolio, besides introducing regional language literature in its catalogue. Talking to TNS here today, Sachin Bansal, CEO, Flipkart Online Services, said the company has earmarked Rs 20 crore for the expansion during the coming fiscal. “We already have warehouses in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Besides scaling up these warehouses, we will add two new in Chennai and Kolkata to ensure speedy delivery of books. We will also be investing into marketing and technology,” he said. The company proposes to add compact discs (CDs) and mobile handsets to its product line by the end of this year. “Our aim is to be the top one-stop e-commerce site. Thus, we will be adding CDs/ DVDs, mobile handsets and other electronic gadgets on our e-commerce site. This will ensure us higher returns,” he said. He added that the company would now introduce literature in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Bangla. “Initially, we will be offering 50 per cent of literature in these regional languages in our catalogue. Slowly, we will scale up our catalogue in these languages as well,” he said. As of now, the company offers a choice of 5 million books to choose from, besides maintaining stocks for three million books at any given point. Besides tying up with leading publishers and book suppliers in India, the company also has tie-ups with four leading international publishers. Bansal said funds for the expansion initiatives would be raised from the profits earned during this year, besides raising money from the venture capital fund. Bansal, who hails from Chandigarh, said the company had grown at a steady 1,000 per cent this fiscal. “We started operations in 2007 and from an annual turnover of Rs 2.5 crore in the first year, we will clock a turnover of Rs 25 crore and are working to achieve Rs 100 crore turnover in 2010-11,” he said.
	Videocon enters GSM mobile market Chennai, March 25 Consumer electronics major Videocon today rolled out its GSM mobile network in Chennai and said it planned to invest Rs 14,000 crore over next three years to become a top pan-India operator. The Venugopal Dhoot company, which has presence in sectors from oil and gas to DTH services, will roll out services in 100 cities in as many days and the tariff rates are likely to be below one paise. The rapid expansion could well increase the competition in the telecom industry, which is already crowded with 12 players in many circles. "We want to be the top 3 service provider in the country over the next three years and to fulfil this, our plan is to invest Rs 14,000 crore in this business over the next three years," Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot told reporters after unveiling the service. The group, which has licences for all 23 circles, would be pan-India operator by September-end, and it is in the process of setting up 70,000 base stations in the country, of which 3,000 are already operational in Tamil Nadu, he said. — PTI